John Wester Quoted in Charlotte Observer on Legislative Power Grab

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John R. Wester weighed in on the Republican-led North Carolina General Assembly’s attempt to strip the incoming governor, Democrat Roy Cooper, of executive powers. After leading a successful fight against the General Assembly earlier this year over separation of powers, Wester commented on how the court’s decision in that case can be applied to the controversial measures being considered this week.

“In its ruling, the high court referred seven times to the governor’s constitutional duty [to] ‘faithfully to execute the laws’ of the state, Wester said Thursday. He said any new laws limiting the governor’s authority would be judged against the court’s standard in the separation-of-powers case.

‘In articulating that standard seven times in the chief justice’s opinion,’ Wester said, ‘we see a clear focus on the governor’s duty and the court’s resolve in protecting it.’”